May/June 2017

by Nancy Nesvet This year, Art Basel had something for everyone. Dominated by the motherlode of over 4,000 works of art shown by 226 exhibitors in the Galleries sector, Art Basel extended its universe to individual artist projects at Parcours, Unlimited, Statements and Features. The solo projects, the result of artist proposals, were politically aware, environmentally conscious and community oriented. The number of solo projects throughout these sectors largely identified with art concerned with social justice topics. In Unlimited, gallery directors chose 76 projects with “unlimited” size and scale proposed by artists. In the restaurant with the hardest to get reservation in town (or maybe the world), “Cooking the World,” 2017 (Hauser and Wirth, Zurich), Subhodh Gupta hosted dinners merging strangers who emerge friends around a u-shaped bar. Indian cooks composed meals with … [Read more...] about THE MORNING AFTER: LOOKING BACK AT ART BASEL 2017

by Nancy Nesvet In the wake of nations attempting to close their borders, the Basel Art Fairs have expanded the world of art and art’s very definition to become the most inclusive ever in art’s history. Including not only ideas but the process by which those ideas are expressed, these shows amaze in the variety of sensual experience, including sound, vision, physical feeling, taste (and I don’t mean the food kind) and more. Art Basel, Basel’s oldest and best Art Fair, includes eight sectors; Unlimited, shows 76 projects, unlimited in size and scale including interventions, installations and other non-scaled pieces. Parcours, from the French meaning "journeys", offsite at the Cathedral Square and throughout the old city of Basel, offers current work of contemporary living artists including installations, guided journeys, interventions and repurposed sculpture. The Film Sector offers … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE’S GUIDE TO BASEL ART FAIRS 2017

by Nancy Nesvet TUESDAY, JUNE 13, 2017 Day two at Art Basel. In this wonderland of art, I am still totally at play, seeing the installations at Parcours, in the cathedral square and down by the Rhine River, but coming around to reality via some installations and sculpture at "Unlimited" in the city square called Messerplatz. First confronted by Al Wei Wei’s “Iron Tree” (2016), which changes patina as it ages, it also brings nature and the manmade relationship with nature into perspective. That relationship seems a theme of Parcours, curator Samuel Leuenberger’s brilliant trek through the city through the following of artwork installations. Reza Aramsh recreates Michelangelo’s “Slave” in resin, but tiesits hands behind his back with a rope, making him captive and towering on a plinth over the river. Katinka Bock’s “Parasite Fountain” (2017) creates ametal fish that draws water … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY TWO

by Nancy Nesvet MONDAY, JUNE 12, 2017 With Art Basel, in Switzerland and The Venice Biennale and Documenta in Kassel, in Germany and Athens, Greece respectively, happening all at the same time, it is the trifecta for art shows, and so far, I’m betting on Art Basel. Having seen all of the Liste show yesterday, when it opened, and Art Basel Design, I can tell you the art aficionados are coming out for art, beauty and fun. Done with the hard-hitting political landscape of last year’s work here, and taking a breather, maybe literally, everyone’s happier seeing fewer political statement or in your face art. A lot is concentrating on the process, the materials and the bringing in of concrete, beads, aluminum screening and more for innovative treatments of material. Watch Artscope’s Instagram and Facebook pages for Prem Sahib’s Concrete Lion reproductions (of the originals in front … [Read more...] about ARTSCOPE AT ART BASEL SWITZERLAND: DAY ONE

By Marguerite Serkin Bennington Museum hosted an artist reception on the afternoon of June 3rd to honor legendary photographer Clemens Kalischer. Now on view in the museum’s ground floor gallery, "Between Past and Future: Clemens Kalischer's Vermont" provides a wide sampling of Mr. Kalischer's masterfully- composed portraits. Spanning more than six decades of Vermont life, the collection was curated by Kalischer's daughter Tanya, and Bennington Museum executive director Robert Wolterstorff. Known for his candid, yet meticulous approach, Kalischer's images leave no detail overlooked. "Postmaster" documents a stern man behind an iron grille, surrounded by the evocative post office paraphernalia of the 1940's and 50's. "Teenage Couple Dancing" (1958) is a photograph in motion, encapsulating the vigor and style of the day. Photographs from Kalischer's long affiliation with … [Read more...] about Between Past and Future: Clemens Kalischer’s Vermont at Bennington Museum

by Gregory Morell For those of us that have loved and lost and reflect back nostalgically on the possibilities of what could have been, Mamma Mia has a special relevance. The rest of us can just sit back and revel in the color and exuberance of musical pop puffery. Mamma Mia is the ideal beach musical, a fact well played by the Ogunquit Playhouse in the kick-off of their 85th season, which opened on May 19th and continues through the first of July. Though the setting is a remote Greek Isle on the Aegean coast, the steamy swim suited cast could easily be imagined on the scenic sands of Ogunquit beach. The music of ABBA propels the romance and disappoints of young love and the matrimonial hope and despair of sustained fidelity. The costume department and the lighting designer were on overdrive for this production and no excess was spared. This included a blinding array of gold … [Read more...] about Mamma Mia at the Ogunquit Playhouse